Testing and Supplementing for Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and Conceiving
In this article I am going to walk you through the supplements that I took during and after hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery. The goal is to give you an idea of what types of supplements come up when we test and recommend for clients so that you know what to expect should you choose to work with us to get your cycle back.
When I was first recovered and had had a few menstrual cycles, I started a new protocol of supplements to help me continue to balance out my hormones and get them nice and sturdy (this process is called allostasis). Early on I was still really sensitive to missing periods, which told me I was not in the clear yet to put my foot on the gas pedal of diet and exercise and could easily lose my period again if I don’t stay on top of my nutrition and food intake.
Since my husband and I were preparing to have a baby, we also wanted to get more insight into how my hormones are doing and see if I had any deficiencies to dial in. My plan here was to supplement with what I needed and turn my body into a luxury baby hotel.
So I took an HTMA test, a Hair Mineral Analysis. An HTMA is an awesome affordable, non-invasive, highly accurate hair sample test that reveals mineral imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, and heavy metal toxicity. All of which can have a drastic impact on your health.
Using the HTMA testing, we were able to get some information about my mineral levels and supplement accordingly. The results were really interesting helped me get some very specific supplemental needs. Of course, at the time of writing we know that I did in fact get pregnant - so all went well! I find this to be the case with our pregnancy clients, too.
So with that, I’m going to show you what I was taking as a result of my HTMA test and why.
The important thing to note is that these recommendations were really specific to me. I’m mainly just showing you this to share my personal experiences and also to give you an idea of what life looks like once you get tested for your specific minerals. You don’t just walk away with a prescription for a multivitamin or prenatal or whatever, you get really specific recommendations for your unique situation.
HTMA Test For Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
Rather watch me talk about it and show you the supplements? Watch the video on youtube – I also talk about how I actually did the HTMA test:
Supplements for Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
Remember – these were specific for me. You may not need these and ideally, you’ll work with someone to figure it out! This might just give you an idea of what to expect when you work with your professional.
Vitamin E
1x a day with breakfast
It acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals.
Manganese
1x a day with breakfast
Manganese helps the mitochondria of the cells metabolize glucose. It is also required for tendon and ligament function, energy production, and thyroid activity. Manganese is also necessary for lactobacillus.
Chlorophyll
6 drops in the morning in 1 ounce water, 6 drops at night in 1 ounce water
My biggest deficiency was copper. Copper is required for connective tissue health, women’s fertility, cardiovascular health, blood formation, energy production, neurotransmitter activity and the immune system – however, I'm not going to just add copper. Instead, I'm taking chlorophyll to help with the absorption of the natural copper I'm getting from around the place.
Beef Liver
3 caps with breakfast, 3 caps with dinner
Everyone should work some liver into their diet. The desiccated liver capsules make it a lot easier. The brand I use is Grassland Nutrition and I’ve since partnered with them because I recommend them to ALL of my clients. Get 10% off with your first order here, and use the code HASOCIETY at check out.
GI Revive
I take 1/2 scoop in water in the morning before eating (only one tub, once I was finished I stopped using this)
This is to help with symptoms of a leaky gut. It appears I’m having issues absorbing minerals that I’m eating from whole food sources, so we’re supplementing with this to help.
Additional Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations for Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
Always eat carbs with protein and never by themselves
We believed that my body was having a hard time metabolizing carbs at the time, so eating them with a protein should help ease that.
Eat dairy every day
Organic raw cheeses, organic whole milk etc. The reason for the dairy, which I’m sure has most of you like “wow, what, dairy?! – but isn’t that, like, inflammatory?” Here’s why (an extract from Laura's blog post):
It’s one of the only ways we can get enough bio-available calcium (trust me I have seen many HTMA tests that tell me the majority of us are deficient as hell)
Contains magnesium, potassium, selenium, vitamins A,D,E,K
Looking for one food that contains the perfect macro ratio of protein, fat and carbs (sugar) you found it!
It is metabolically perfect and helps to lower body fat
It improves bone density and is a blood sugar regulator
It’s even been shown to prevent breast cancer and colon cancer
It also improves the absorption of calcium, Vitamin A and B12
Give blood every 6 months to detox excess iron
I’ve always had really high iron (which apparently goes hand-in-hand with my copper deficiency) so, giving blood will help me ditch some of the iron filled blood and allow my body to make some fresh blood. If I’m supplementing correctly, I should produce more high-iron containing blood.
Also, I’m an O- blood type which is the universal blood type – the most wanted blood by hospitals because anyone can accept transfusions from it. So, it’s a win-win-win. Note: I find that most women I talk to with HA are the opposite, with an iron deficiency.
1 raw carrot a day
This was prescribed for hormone balancing and detoxification, which we could all use a little bit of. Carrots are filled with beta carotene, which is good for a whole plethora of things. Can’t hurt to eat a carrot, so why not?
This was my regime at the time of period recovery and preconception planning. I hope this encourages you to get some testing done and iron out your deficiencies with some specific supplementation.
Interested in an HTMA for yourself?
In our free masterclass, I actually talk more about the HTMA and tell you how you can get this test for FREE through us. See when the next masterclass is being held.
